Diving the North Sea | Heligoland, the East Frisian Islands & Grey Seals

About North Sea – Heligoland & East Frisian Islands

The German North Sea is a world apart from the gentle Baltic: colder, clearer and richer in life, centred on the red-rock island of Heligoland, Germany’s only true offshore rocky island. Heligoland is a cold-water jewel, where the wall of Die Düne, the towering Kathedrale rock cathedral and the Lummenfelsen kelp forests host lobsters, cod, nudibranchs and year-round grey seals. The SMS Ariadne wreck lies in deeper water for technical divers. East of the mainland, the East Frisian Islands of Sylt, Amrum, Borkum, Norderney and Langeoog offer tidal-flats training, the Adolph Bermpohl lifeboat wreck and spring cuttlefish, though diving here is dictated by the formidable tide. This is advanced, drysuit, big-biodiversity diving with visibility that can reach 20 m, and the chance to share the water with curious seals.

Highlights

• ✓Die Düne: a Heligoland wall with lobsters, cod and nudibranchs
• ✓Kathedrale: a huge underwater rock cathedral off Heligoland
• ✓Lummenfelsen: kelp forest beneath a seabird colony
• ✓SMS Ariadne: a deep wreck off Heligoland for technical divers
• ✓Adolph Bermpohl: a DGzRS lifeboat wreck at 10-15 m off Sylt

Getting There

Fly into Hamburg (HAM) and take the train to the North Sea ports, then the ferry to Heligoland (from Cuxhaven or Büsum) or the islands (from the mainland terminals). Heligoland diving is boat-based; the East Frisian islands have harbours at Sylt, Borkum, Norderney and Langeoog.